Livescribe Pen

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What is it? -

The Livescribe Pulse is at pen paired with a microprocessor, infrared camera, and digital sound recorder with the ability to capture handwriting and audio, or run additional applications like print to text or translation capabilities. The pen's camera reads small microdots on proprietary paper which allows for multiple activities. Wikipedia states that “recorded audio is kept indexed with the handwritten text—tapping on a written word starts playback of the recorded audio from that part of the recording.”

How is it used? -

The Livescribe pen can be used to record classroom observations. Teacher and student interactions can be recorded while the administrators take notes on the dot paper. Multiple data collections tools can be utilized with the pen such as, verbal flow and global scan. Administrators can draw seating charts or grids on the paper to collect data, while recording the entire observation.

Effectiveness -

The Livescribe pen allows administrators to accurately analyze classroom observation data with written and audio support. Files can be uploaded to play Flash movies or PDF files which will offer support to teachers in the reflection process. This ability will also save time for the administrator and allow for immediate and accurate feedback. The LiveScribe Desktop software also allows users to upload content to the internet in order to share digital versions of paper files. This is a discrete tool that does not interrupt the flow of classroom interactions. During the post observation conference with teachers, administrators can suggest the use of the pen to enhance instruction with students.

Resources:

Wikipedia. Retreived on March 28, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livescribe